Jacksonville airport evacuated over two suspicious packages

JACKSONVILLE — The Jacksonville International Airport was evacuated Tuesday after police found two suspicious packages and incoming planeloads of passengers were stuck on the tarmac while a bomb squad investigated.

Police found one of the packages in the terminal and another in a nearby parking garage, airport spokesman Michael Stewart said. It wasn't immediately clear what was in the packages, but the bomb squad from the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office was still on the scene and investigating late Tuesday night, Stewart said.

"It was determined that because of the seriousness of the situation that they would evacuate the terminal," Stewart said.

There were no reports of injuries or damage. Jacksonville police blocked off the entrance to the airport.

Local news media reported that the sheriff's office had arrested two suspects, but Stewart said he could not confirm that.

When authorities decided to evacuate the terminal and shut down the airport, some incoming planes were held up on the tarmac until buses could arrive to pick up the passengers, Stewart said.

At least one plane was preparing to depart at the time of the evacuation, but Stewart said he did not know if it already had pulled away from the gate at the time of the evacuation. No flights were allowed to take off following the evacuation.